Page 131 of Silent Target

“The motor was shut down remotely.”

“Can you restore it?” Caleb asks.

“Not without access to the rail network.”

The stolen drives flash inside their case.

Nine minutes.

Forty-two seconds.

“What’s our distance from the train?” I ask.

“Unknown.”

“But it’s still close enough to communicate with the drives.”

“Yes.”

Rook steps onto the track. “Then we walk.”

We move forward on foot.

Shark remains beside Falcon, keeping him near the center. Cobra guards the rear. Fathom and Mac walk ahead of them.

Caleb refuses to let more than an arm’s length separate us.

Every few steps, his gaze shifts toward me.

The fifth time, I catch him.

“You keep checking.”

“I know.”

“You said it.”

“Said what?”

“That you know.”

He watches the darkness ahead.

“I don’t want to lose you.”

The simple admission steals my next breath.

“You won’t.”

His jaw tightens.

“You can’t promise that.”

“No. But I can promise I won’t walk away while you’re trying to protect me.”

He looks at me.

Red light from Fathom’s tablet catches the hard angles of his face, the blood dried along his cheek, and the exhaustion beneath his eyes.